Rude Awakening
by tvstatic
Summary: Yet another attempt to make a Season 5 happen months before it happens... Exploring the timeline jumps, working with some character development, and meeting back up at the start of Season 5. Starts with the Ark and the changes we see there. I am personally most excited for the friendship (maybe more?) between Murphy and Raven. Feedback welcome!
1. Chapter 1

SEASON 5

As she looked up at the sky, every unused part of her brain suddenly wakening with a slow alertness, she realized that everything she might have thought might have happened might be wrong. Every assumption, every conclusion, every theory might have been dead wrong.

How could she have been so blind?

It's not like she hadn't been here before. When they first landed on earth, they thought they were the only ones. They had no idea the ground was still inhabited. Their worst fears, that the air might be toxic, that the water wouldn't be clean, had proved relatively unfounded. Sure radiation was there and caused mutations just like the deer and the butterflies... in hindsight how could they have been so blind as to think if a deer could survive, a human couldn't have?

How could she have had six years and seven days of mulling the possibilities and still, not once, did the existence of others in space not come to mind?

Of course, the chances were even slimmer. They had been orbiting what they thought was a dead planet for 97 years. So where on earth was this ship coming from now?

She thought back to her time in the lab. She recalled talking to Jackson about human experiments, long distance travel... but he never mentioned a prisoner transport ship.

As she and Madi crept into the foliage to camouflage themselves, she thought to herself - 'if I am surprised here, what happened up there?'


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the very short first chapter! I wrote it on my phone, and the formatting went all weird so I decided to cut to the basic start and just go from there.**

 **Essentially, Clarke is realizing that everything she assumed about what might have gone on up there is completely wrong, and starting to question some of the assumptions she made (much like the assumptions when they first landed on the ground). So we will be spending time on the Ark and with the Bunker before we move back to Planet Earth...**

FLASHBACK - ARK - EARLY DAYS

Once everybody had partially recovered from oxygen deprivation, the seven of them went around checking the systems as best we could. Echo and Emori were virtually useless of course, but good at lifting things which came in handy considering the destruction to the Ring when the stations ripped apart from it. Some sections were almost impassable and would take more time than others. The halls were dark, just like all those years growing up on the Ark. Wires and cords were everywhere. Raven quietly took stock of all the work they had to do. Locating a two workpads left behind, she reset them, logged in and began entering tasks in the engineering program task list.

"Thank goodness my login still works. We might not have had access to all the systems we needed. I suppose once I had catapulted myself to Earth they suspected I wouldn't be coming back to hack it and never removed me from it."

The group followed her like wounded puppies. Some of them more wounded than others, like Monty. Murphy kicked at a few things, clearly pissed off at something.

Raven turned abruptly.

"Sorry, aren't we maybe going to stop talking about how lucky we are to have you and get Monty's hands checked out? He's is in agony and here we are blindly following you around this hunk of garbage."

"Great idea, Murphy. Medbay wasn't located on the Ring, but we will need one. I know that there was an older medical bay on the Ring from the original space station. It's located off the control centre. Let's head there now and you can get to work on Monty's hands."

"Me? Wha-"

"Monty, unfortunately you are probably the closest thing we have to a doctor. Emori and Echo don't have the science or technology background that you do. Monty's hands are useless right now and he will need Harper, Emori and Echo to help set up the algae farms. That leaves you, me, and Bellamy, and..."

Raven looked at Bellamy, pity evident in her eyes. Bellamy hadn't heard a word she had said. Murphy glanced at him briefly.

"Or, you could always switch with Harper and spend the next five years staring at green algae and recycled urine."

"Fine, fine, I'll do it. Sheesh."

Raven smiled.

"Plus, I heard you did a pretty good job on open heart blood pumping with Ontari with ALIE trying to kill you. Pretty sure anybody who could handle that kind of pressure can handle seven people circling in space who need the occasional stitch."

Harper looked relieved. After her Mount Weather experience, she really did not want to be stuck in the med bay. Plus, Raven reasoned - being a doctor kept Murphy out of everybody's way. Probably for the best considering his explosive personality.

"Take Monty with you and see what you can make work. Take the second workpad - it should have access to all the medical files and etextbooks you will need."

Monty visibly groaned - whether it was in pain or fear that Murphy was in charge of his medical needs wasn't entirely clear.

"Alright, let's try to get you cleaned up."

As they walked off, Raven began reviewing her schematics. "Harper, Echo, and Emori - you should head over to where the Algae will need to be set up in R-42. I am sure there is going to be some cleanup along the way. You'll want a good size space for the algae farm. We will need to organize and do an inventory at a later date. Why don't you work on clearing the space an hauling any tech you see to the cafeteria for us to go through at a later date. We have to get the algae farm set up right away so hopefully Murphy can figure something out for Monty quickly."

The three of them nodded, and Harper turned, beckoning Echo and Emori to follow.

Bellamy walked off in the direction of the window where he could see earth. Raven wactched for a moment, contemplating the long list of tasks before them and debating whether she should follow... and then thought to herself... 'what would Clarke want me to do?' and she put down the workpad and followed.

Bellamy had picked up an old empty bottle of scotch.

"She saved us again. Do you think we can do this without her?" Raven knew she would never get through to Bellamy again if she didn't ask.

"If we don't, she died in vain, and I'm not going to let that happen. You with me?" Some of the fire that had appeared to go out in Bellamy flickered awake as he spoke.

Raven thought about everything Clarke had done, and how unfair she had been when after everything, Clarke again was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

"Always".


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, so we visited the Ark. I think I will stay there for a while, so that we fully explore the unexpected that Clarke wasn't anticipating. Bunker visits will come later.**

 **Warning! Some swearing.**

FLASHBACK - ARK

"Come on Raven, you can do better than that." Murphy had his arms crossed looking at Raven on a workout type bench.

"NO. I. CAN'T." Raven yelled at the top of her lungs, throwing a hunk of metal tubing acting as a weight across the room.

"Fine. You don't have to work with me but if you don't, your leg is literally never going to get better and you have nothing else to do in this tin can for the next four years."

"NOTHING BETTER TO DO. YOU THINK I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO. I AM TRYING TO KEEP YOU ALIVE FOR ONE THING YOU LITTLE ASSHOLE. I AM TRYING TO GET US HOME FOR ANOTHER."

Murphy looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, if you can't even be bothered to do thirty minutes of physio a day in order to walk properly, it's surprising you are going to finish those other tasks. You're right - you can't get this done, and you may as well give up on everything else while you are at it, because if there is one thing I know about Raven, she's a quitter."

He completed this little tirade by rolling his eyes over dramatically.

"Now, let's work on those breathing exercises that Luna taught you. Meditation can be just as effective as medication, said the people on the Ark with very limited medication options."

Murphy moved calmly behind Raven whose nerves were still exploding with rage but who had stopped screaming.

Holding her firmly from behind, Murphy muttered the same words to the same rhythym Luna had done, and the same meditation that Murphy had done with Raven nearly once a week since he insisted she start her physio therapy on the Ark. It wasn't long before she burst into tears, her emotions pent up from the weeks frustrations.

Knowing she calmed down, Murphy took a bench on the opposite side of Raven facing her. "So, dish, what happened this week to make you break down?"

"Murphy, you aren't my psychiatrist"

"No, but I am your primary care physician, and only care physician, and I know what it can do to a person to hole up their emotions until they are a festering pool of poison inside. Get it off your chest, it's better for you.

Raven launched into a long explanation about the communications system and it's infinite issues, which she indicated shouldn't be a huge priority, except Bellamy is moping around and looking pathetic all the time asking if they can contact the bunker, and Raven feels she should at least be trying to do something to cheer him up. In the meantime she has run over the scenarios in her head over and over and she cannot fathom a way to get back to earth without the right amount of fuel.

"And on top of all that, I really hate algae."

They burst out laughing.

"That, I can definitely relate to. Do you feel better?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Ok, let's just try three more reps with that strengthening exercise we were doing before. It's not just about strength Raven, remember part of this is balance and trying to re-establish a connection with the nerves in your leg. Don't focus so much on the weight - focus on keeping it in the air. Breathe through it. Bottling up your breathe, just like your emotions, will do more harm than good."

"Fine." She grumbled, laying back down while Murphy retrieved the tubing and placed it on her leg to both balance and lift. This time, her fact was pulling to show the effort, but she was focused on her breathing. She lifts and balances the weight on her bad leg.


	4. Chapter 4

**So, we see that Murphy has developed and is becoming something of a doctor! I came up with this concept after realizing for some reason, I had originally jumped to Harper being the doctor when really it was Murphy with the heart and aptitude for it ... he stole the medicine for the kids, he managed to pump Ontari's heart to keep Clarke alive while people were literally trying to kill him... and perhaps most importantly, he wants to help such as we saw in the episode with Luna.**

 **How might others change on the Ring?**

ARK - FLASHBACK

"Raven, I just want to confirm. If you cross these wires, you short the transmitter?"

"Yes Emori, that's right!"

"So to rewire, I should be removing the transmitter completely, re-arranging the components, and if I do it properly I don't short the wires and I avoid the short?"

"Yes, exactly. That is awesome Emori. You've really come a long way since we got to space!"

Emori smiled, fiddling with the equipment. It wasn't long ago when "teck" as she used to call it, helped her live by providing for her when she would steal it for Alie. She didn't understand it then, but she knew it's value. When she took the chip, it was teh same thing. The technology had an amazing power, something that should be harnassed and could be effective, but terrifying if left in the wrong hands. Then, the technology suddenly meant she was something to experiment on - they wanted to find a solution with nightblood, and technology was the answer. She saw the dark side of technology in so many ways... but then, when they went to space and she saw Raven in zero gravity, and the earth, burning into oblivion from space, and the darkness of the sky that contrasted so much with the harshness of the badlands, she saw how it could be mesmerizing.

She had been assigned to work in the algae farms, but after only six months the work no longer required everybody and could be managed well with just Harper and occasional check ins from Monty. Emori knew she had to make herself useful up here. She had to survive, and survival meant becoming irreplaceable. For that reason, she was glad Murphy had been chosen to be the ships health care provider. It made him needed. Emori knew that the next best way to be valuable to the team was to not only help Raven, but get close to her. She knew that if it came down to it, those they didn't need would have to go, and she banked on the fact it would be Echo instead of her who got the boot.

Always playing the game.

So, Raven had been having Emori work on small pieces of equipment, inconsequential ones at first, and eventually more complicated ones. Emori had progressed faster than either she or Raven anticipated, and although Emori couldn't do the programming type of work yet, she was excellent at repairs. Oddly enough, her mismatched hands were an advantage as she learned how to make them work together and stopped hiding them from the group. It didn't take her long to realize that nobody, with the exception of Echo, seemed to care in the slightest about her hand. Echo hadn't proven herself to be much use anyways as it turned out Emori was better able to cope in space. Echo had radiation sickness since the first month they arrived. Emori, having spent more time in the radiation soaked badlands, had only suffered some mild effects.

As progress had been extremely slow on the communications end of things and a potential radio with the bunker, Raven had graduated Emori to that task. Emori had been reviewing the science on communication technology and waves, and with Raven and Monty's help was beginning to understand how communications had once existed with the ground and space. She had some ideas on how they might get through to the bunker... she wasn't sure if they would work, but she wanted to see if she could surprise the team with her abilities.

Working silently away in her corner, she had toiled for days and this was the last task for her theory to be tested. Excitedly, she removed the transmitter and re-worked it, finally re-attaching it and turning the machine on.

Static.

Raven turned around. "Well, I doubt they are spending all say trying to contact us, even if you did get it to work. You could try transmitting something on repeat, but I would be concerned about overuse of the radio before we even find out if it works. Good work though Emori, that is excellent that you got it that far."

Suddenly, Emori thought she heard something, a ripple, a change, in the static. She knew it was something, but also realized it could be leftover radiation waves from praimfaya.

She sighed, turned it off, and headed back to the room she shared with John. She would work on it again tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

**So, Murphy is the doctor, Raven's leg is getting better and Emori is learning tech... whats this about Echo being sick!? We find out here...**

FLASHBACK - THE RING

Echo had fainted not long after being on board. She wasn't surprised. How could one trust this type of technology? After ALIE, it seemed impossible to have that kind of faith.

It took months for Murphy to diagnose the issue. He was just learning, and she knew he was no healer. Radiation sickness. Of course. She scoffed.

Azgeda had far less radiation exposure than the other clans, was Murphy's theory. That lined up with Echo's own knowledge - Azgeda territory was quite far north, and had fewer incidents of animals that were "not quite right" or freikdreina. They were far from the radiation soaked badlands and enjoyed the purity that gave them. Now, that was coming at a cost according to Murphy.

As Murphy explained at a Ring meeting - "We aren't suffering these effects because we were genetically engineered for space. Space had significant immediate and long term impacts on the cardio-vascular system, even in low orbit. It appears that Emori is not being impacted because of natural selection or possible developing her own type of immunity from long term exposure sort of a "night blood light". Echo doesn't have that being from Azgeda, and additionally she spent more time outside prior to praimfaya and was likely already impacted permanently by praimfaya. I don't have any way to treat her here."

The group nodded solemnly.

"It essentially means that Echo can't continue training and has to be on light to moderate duties only."

Echo, despite feeling weak, stood up. "I can contribute as much as anybody else."

Bellamy shook his head. "No, you can't Echo. I'm sorry. The algae farm will be fine without you. We will find other work for you to do."

Echo's eyes narrowed in frustration, but she knew she was outnumbered. She sank back down in her chair, having already exerted herself.

"Echo can help take inventory. We need to identify what we have and what we might need. She can do that in her own time, when it doesn't exhaust her, as there is no rush." Raven suggested.

Bellamy nodded, his hands holding up his chin. "Good idea Raven. Echo, I'll show you how to use a workpad. I know you don't want to, but it will allow us to keep complete records."

After discussing a few other innocuous matters of the day, the meeting was dismissed. Bellamy waited behind with a workpad.

He showed it to her, but it meant nothing. She didn't know how to explain to Bellamy that as she trained her whole life to be a warrier for Azgeda... she never learned how words become symbols that mean something.

"Echo, just click on "Start". Can you do that?"

Echo looked at the workpad, then looked Bellamy in the eyes and shook her head.

Bellamy was confused for a minute... then a look of realization came over him.

"You can't read."

"No."

"Well, Echo, I think that's the perfect thing for you to do in your condition. I always wanted to be a teacher - I'll teach you how to read, and then you can do inventory. Nobody needs to know, I won't embarrass you or anything. It makes sense, actually. No time on the ground to learn to read."

"Emori can read. Her clan valued reading more than Azgeda."

"Well, no time on the ground for a warrier to learn to read then. Let's get started with something basic... like the alphabet. We can work together for two hours a day so that is doesn't exhaust or overwhelm you, and then when you start getting the hang of it, you can learn how to write."

Echo closed her eyes. She wished she could be back on Earth, fighting in another war for her people, breathing clean air, eating wild game, and feeling strong. She felt none of those things in this moment.

Bellamy put his hands on hers. "Look, Echo, I know it's not what you want. But it's a good thing for you to do in the meantime, and it will help pass the time until we can get back on the ground. We all just want to go home."

"I don't have a home anymore Bellamy."

"Five years will change a lot Echo. People will change, clans will change, and we will change. You'll always have a home with us but I suspect when we do return, you'll find a home with Azgeda as well."

She sighed heavily, and returned to stare at the strange symbols on the workpad.


	6. Chapter 6

**OK! So in summary... Murphy is training to be a doctor, Raven's leg is improving, Emori is training in tech, and Echo is sick and learning to read? I really am working hard to do something unique with the characters. Feedback appreciated!**

THE RING - FLASHBACK

Bellamy finally had some purpose on the Ring.

Everyday, in addition to the rounds Raven had put him on, he would spend two hours in Echo's room teaching her how to read and write in English. This was harder than he thought it would be, since English was not her first language although she was verbally fluent, there was a lot of work to be done on vocabulary and the world is a very different place written down.

Within several months though, Echo had noticeably improved and Bellamy was able to have her read aloud some of the classics that he loved from his childhood. The Iliad, the Odyssey, the many greek and roman mythology. He felt more and more relaxed in Echo's presence, as she did in his. They bonded over the stories, sometimes discussing similar scenarios they had faced. It gave Bellamy something to do other than grieve and worry. Unsurprisingly, everybody on the ship thought they were hooking up, and that had certainly happened, but the relationship was more about the friendship than ever being "together". They didn't seem to see each other that way, and that suited them both just fine. Plus, Bellamy was grateful for it to an extent. He didn't want to ruin his current co-leadership dynamic with Raven, and this eliminated that type of messiness he expected he might have fallen into with her. He and Echo fulfilled their needs if they wanted to, but often Echo just worked on her reading and writing. Bellamy couldn't truly trust Echo, not after everything she had done. But, he liked her as a person just fine and wanted her to succeed.

It still left a lot of time in the day. Although Echo was on light duties, she slept for about 12-16 hours a day in her weakened state so they werent making the classes any longer. What did Bellamy do in all his free time when he wasn't checking in on his rounds?

FLASHBACK AGAIN!

After the first few weeks on the Ring, they had decided to divide up living quarters. Some of the council members and other elite lived on the Ring to be closest to the council room, so they had the best homes and units. Only 4 proper homes, if you could call them that, existed on the Ring. Raven and Echo shared Jaha's old unit, Murphy and Emori shared Kane's, Monty and Harper had Kaplan's, and ... then there were the Griffins. Nobody else was willing to step foot in it and although Bellamy contemplated sleeping in a closet elsewhere, he had Clarke in his head telling him to "get over it and use your head". So after the other rooms had been claimed and everybody had scurried away to avoid looking Bellamy in the eyes, he took a deep breath and walked in.

He was genuinely surprised at how much nicer the unit had been than the one he and Octavia grew up in. A living area, and two rooms. He looked at the two doors. One for Abby and Jake - one for Clarke. Bellamy's heart ached for her. His heart ached for leaving her behind. He didn't understand how he could be here, still breathing... and she was not. He didn't want to enter her room. He wasn't ready. He chose the door on the right and opened it, and knew instantly. It was Clarke's. The drawings on the walls of the world were all hers. He had chosen wrong. It was simple, basic, as she had not een there since she was thrown in solitary, but it was hers. Bellamy walked slowly up to the bed and brushed his hands along it, remembering that a different Clarke, a younger, more innocent but no less brave Clarke, had once slept there.

Finally, Bellamy sat down slowly on the bed... and even more slowly, laid down on it. And here, he finally wept and grieved for Clarke staring at her perfect vision of the world below. Here, is where he wept every time the grief became too much to contain and would slowly fall asleep, hoping the pain would lessen the next day.

FLASHBACK 3 -FORWARD IN TIME

It wasn't long after working with Echo before Bellamy started wanting another project, and the idea for "Earth Skills 2" came up. Bellamy enlisted the help of Echo and Emori to teach them the grounder languages properly so that they would be fluent when they returned. Realistically, 1100 versus 107 native english speakers was not a lot, and if they ever made it to the ground, Bellamy wanted to make sure Octavia was proud of him as her brother. So for an hour a day after their Ring Meeting, they would gather around and practice the dialects. They were getting good.

"Time to celebrate with Monty's Best Algae Moonshine." Monty announced, in a choppy Trigesasleng while pulling out a disturbingly off green coloured bottle. "Finally!" Harper said in English, clearly keen to move on with the second portion of the night.


	7. Chapter 7

**So we see Bellamy's grief, and how Murphy, Emori, Raven, and Echo are being forced to change... now let's catch up with Monty and Harper.**

 **TW for mental illness/depression.**

FLASHBACK

There was no question in Monty's mind that Bellamy wasn't the same man he once had been. Where once there was a strong man Monty looked up to, Monty now saw a mere shadow of his former self. What Bellamy once had in self assuredness, confidence, and bullheadishness had slowly changed. Raven gave him management tasks that seemed important, but ultimately, she was concerned for his ability to make difficult decisions. It wasn't long after Monty was done the majority of the work in the algae farm and transferred it to Harper that Raven began to voice her concerns.

"Monty, I am glad you can begin to focus on how we are going to get back to Earth. I can't do this alone... and I am not even sure it can be done at all."

"What are you talking about Raven?"

"You can't tell anybody, okay? Not even Harper. Not Bellamy. Nobody but you and I can know this. I am only telling you this because... well, you would figure it out on your own once you've had a few months in here like I have."

"I promise Raven, I won't share it. It's not good news, it is?"

"No. I have run every scenario, used every creative solution, considered every angle I could dream up, every scenario possible in my mind. I don't think there is a way back."

"I see."

"I can't break that to the group. Do you see what could happen?"

Monty nodded, slowly, glumly. "It wouldn't be good, I know that. But we've only been here a few months Raven. With the both of us working on it, maybe it could be done, maybe there are angles you haven't considered."

"Hopefully, but I doubt it."

"You know... I remember when I discovered the praimfaya survivor list Clarke had drafted. I was so angry at her for keeping it all a secret from me. I was so angry at her when I thought it should be common knowledge. Then, when we shared it with everybody... it was chaos. I still think back to how much I hurt Clarke, how angry I was... and ultimately... she was right. Sometimes people are better off not knowing. It's kind of funny that she and her Dad wanted to share that the Ark was dying... but it could have been chaos, just like it was on Earth. Knowledge can be a dangerous thing."

Raven looked at Monty, tilting her head a bit. "We both said things to Clarke we regret Monty. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"Trust me Raven, of all the things I have done, that is not something I beat myself up over."

Raven's mind went back to being attacked by Hannah Green... and she slowly turned away to the control panel to bring up the coordinates of the Ring in five years time.

"Let's get to work then Monty."

FLASHBACK

Months passed. Years passed. Monty and Raven kept their secret, but Monty knew it was only a matter of time. If they didn't have a plan at the three year mark, everybody would grow suspicious very quickly. Plus, the knowledge affected his relationship with Harper. The more he believed they didn't have a plan to return, the more he considered the future. The more the five years became a tin can life sentence, the more he struggled with what made sense. Do they live our their existence until they die, do they try to procreate, in the hopes their children may one day go back to the ground, or do they pull the plug - much as Jasper and the others had done when facing just a five year bunker experience. That was only of the reasons he held back from Harper. He was worried. Worried that telling her might put her back in those shoes she was in two years ago, desperate for a way out. She was, Monty had to admit, very much operating on automatic these days. Spending all her time in the algae farm where she insisted "at least the green reminds me of life unlike anything else on this ship."

After much debate, he thought about what his parents would have wanted... and he knew they would have said to keep pushing on, to have children, to try and be happy in the hopes that someday, somebody would figure out how to get to the ground, and that they owed the human race that at least.

The first attempt at the conversation with Harper did not go well.

"Absolutely not Monty. I love you, but I am not bringing a child into this work on the RING. This place was a horrible place to grow up, you know that. I would never even consider it."

"Harper, I know, but it's something to think about."

"No, it's not. I have talked to Murphy and he agrees that my implant should be good for another three years. We can wait that long, get back to earth, and then talk about it. But even if we end up on this tin can forever, I will never, ever, have a child on it. I would rather die."

Monty nodded, grimly. He was afraid that would be her response.

"That makes sense. We can talk about it when that time comes."

Harper knew she was pushing everybody away, but she didn't really care.

The Ring was a bad place. She chose Monty, not a depressing tin can, and here she was stuck in the latter, hoping the former would just leave her alone. She didn't really care. She felt entirely hopeless. She knew Monty was trying to reach her, but she felt like there was nothing left to reach. The bad memories of the Ring combined with her feelings of hopelessness and soon she found she was unable to find joy in anything. She tried to fake it sometimes, sure. She kept up appearances. Going to Bellamy's language sessions, drinking the moonshine... but it wasn't long before she started skipping out on those as well.

She tried to sleep a lot, but sleep was difficult. She would wake up after only sleeping for a few hours and not be able to get back to sleep, and so she would just sit there, Monty asleep beside her, staring into nothingness. Thankfully her work in the algae farm was minimal, because she wasn't really able to concentrate on much these days. She carried on, but barely.

She had also noticed Murphy taking more of an interest in her than usual. He insisted on her coming to physicals more regularly to discuss her "weight loss" and while he did address that issue, he also asked her what else was going on, asking her questions about how she was feeling. She was honest with him.

"Look, Murphy, sometimes I just wish I was still on earth and a guard so I could just blow my own brains out. Nobody would miss me here anyways, you could all handle the algae farm easily enough."

"Is that how you have been feeling Harper?"

"Isn't that how we are all feeling, Murphy? Aren't you a little suspicious as to why Raven and Monty haven't announced some grande plan to get us home? It's been almost three years. It's hopeless. We are stuck here forever and we need to make the choice if we are willing to stay here or just float ourselves to end our misery."

Murphy looked surprised.

"It hadn't occurred to you, had it? Too busy playing doctor to notice that we have NO plan and its only two years away."

"Well, if there was no option to get home, wouldn't Monty have told you first?"

Harper winced at the thought. "Maybe he doesn't know."

Murphy nodded slowly and turned to his workpad and back to her.

"Harper, I would like you to try jogging around the Ring for 30 minutes a day. It's not real medicine... but its the best we can do for now."

"Sure, fine, whatever."

As Harper left the medbay, if you could even call it that... the darkness got a little darker when she realized, yes, Monty would already know that they couldn't get home. And she knew that she was talking to the group about it tonight whether they liked it or not.


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright, it all comes to head, finally! The catalyst.**

FLASHBACK

They were all sat where they normally sat for lessons and updates. Harper was there, which was rare these days, and Bellamy gave her a very pleasant nod.

Once everybody was there, she jumped right into it.

"Alright everybody, it's been nearly three years. Raven and Monty you've been working exclusively on this, pawning off other ship repairs to Emori. You should have a plan by now. What is it?"

Raven and Monty looked at each other... while the rest of the group looked at them eagerly. Murphy started to feel the dynamic in the room change, before it could be seen. He knew before anybody else even opened their mouths. The slightly agape and awkward faces said it all.

"You've got to be FUCKING kidding me." Murphy exploded, throwing a workpad across the room where it hit the wall with a distinct clang before it tumbled to the ground.

"What?" Emori asked, alarmed.

"They don't have a plan. There is no plan. They have had nearly THREE YEARS to figure out a way to get us down, and it can't be done. Look at them! Their faces say it all."

Monty and Raven turned to the group, their eyes downcast.

"Is this true?" Bellamy asked, quietly.

"It's... it's true." Monty admitted. "We've tried every possible scenario. We spend hours tearing our hair out and at each others throats trying to find a way home. There isn't one. It can't be done with the equipment and materials we have on the Ring."

"We didn't want to tell you yet, because we thought we might find a way." Raven announced.

"Raven... it's time to come clean. We've known for over a year it couldn't be done. We've been re-running the old scenarios hoping for some reason the result will change. It hasn't."

Everybody stared at them, dumbfounded, with the exception of Murphy who paced up and down the room.

"We can never go home..." Emori trailed off lightly. Echo looked down at her own workpad, tears filling her eyes.

Harper suddenly stood up, walked across the room, and punched Monty across the face.

"You knew. You knew for over a year and you didn't tell me. Too afraid I would try to kill myself? To afraid I would end up like Jasper pulling the trigger? Well fuck you. It's too bad we are stuck here forever because I never want to see you again."

Monty looked down, then looked up. "It's what Clarke would have wanted. She would have wanted us to keep trying and to try and find a way home. She wouldn't give up."

"Well Monty, it's too bad Clarke is dead because sounds like she was the one for you."

With that comment that stung the entire group with its coldness, Harper left the room.

Raven moved over to Monty, and proceeded to rub his arm reassuringly.

"Look, we didn't want to do this to you. We want to go home too. Monty and I have been keeping this a secret, and its been killing us slowly."

"Well, sounds like we are all going to die up here anyways Raven so whats the difference if its fast or slow?" Emori asked, annoyed. "Here I have been trying to contact the Bunker on a regular basis and now I am trying to understand what exactly the point is of that task if we are never going to see those people again."

"Well..." Raven started. "We think if we can talk to Jaha and some of the other engineers, maybe they will have another suggestion." Monty finished.

Bellamy nodded, slowly, while getting up. "Keep doing that then. Work on the communications. Now that your secret is out, you can focus on helping establish a connection. In the meantime, let's try to keep business as usual... Monty, you can stay in my room now. You can have the other bedroom."

Monty nodded, obviously still taking in whatever just happened. The group got up and walked away, taking the news in, while Raven pulled Monty into her arms and stroked his hair.

"I'm so sorry Monty."

Murphy took one last look at them both before leaving the room, shaking his head.


	9. Chapter 9

**So everybody knows about the fact they can't get home, but they are re-focusing efforts on the communications system. What happens next!?**

With the three of them working on the comms system and management and repairs of the Ring's systems, work progressed much more quickly.

"Emori, you did a great job on this you know. We just need to re-establish a connection off an old satelite to establish a connection with North America. Now that we are in range, I think you should have the honours of giving it a go. It unfortunate we can only use that satelite once every few months when it finishes a rotation around the earth"

"Thanks Raven. I find the work interesting at least, even if its frustrating." Raven handed over the microphone to Emori.

"Hello, Polaris Bunker, do you read? This is Emori. Do you read?" She recited, just like she had seen in the various movies from the 20th century Murphy had made her watch.

The static continued.

"Is there any way to know if we are succesfully sending?" She asked Raven and Monty.

Monty shook his head. "Only if they respond."

"Polaris bunker, this is Emori currently on the Ring. Do you read?"

Suddenly, the static crackled. Raven looked very surprised.

"Did you hear that? It's probably not radiation anymore, because the earth has stopped actively burning and we can see some green returning... let me see if I can clear it up."

" ... I think she is... saw a rabbit today..."

Everybody froze. The first voice from Earth in over three years. It was a woman.

"Monty are you recording this!?"

"Yes, of course I am!"

"Emori, keep talking!"

"This is Emori, do you read? We hear you, who is this? Do you read?"

"... green is coming back... speaking of Green if you see Monty say Hi, and I miss him"

Everybody froze. Whoever it was, they were talking to them, but it didn't seem they could hear THEM.

"Who is it? Octavia? Abby?" Emori asked, realizing the futility in trying two way communication.

Raven and Monty looked at each other gravely... Raven finally whispered, so softly that it didn't even sound like a noise Raven was capable of making... "it's Clarke."

"... signing off now... bye Bellamy."

The steady crackling of the radio came back as opposed to choppy waves.

"We need to get everybody together. Immediately." Monty announced.

"Is knowing Clarke is alive down there going to do us any good?" Raven asked, wondering if it could harm them more than hurt them knowing they left their friend to die on a burning planet only to turn up alive three years later.

"Hope, Raven. She's given us hope."

With that, Monty buzzed the three tone alarm on the Ring to call a meeting to order.

Monty was making the case with all his might to the group.

"Look, if we thought Clarke had died, that it would be impossible, for Clarke of all people, to live, than we could be likewise thinking getting home is impossible, when it ISN'T. There might be another option. We need to keep trying. We need to keep thinking of what we could do to get home."

Bellamy had withdrawn entirely from the conversation, his face darkened beyond recognition.

Emori nodded enthusiastically. "She sounded great, other than the choppiness of the radio. We think we can clear that up and hear her going forward, but only for a few weeks until the satellite moves out of range. We also still need to find out why we aren't transmitting, or at least why Clarke can't _hear_ why we aren't transmitting. We might be able to go home after all!"

Echo nodded in agreement. "It would be good to go home. It is a good sign Clarke is alive. It means there must be food growing, and animals coming back."

Murphy looked slightly less impressed with it all, although he was happy Clarke was alive. "The nightblood worked. I can't believe the nightblood goddammed worked and we let all those people die."

"Are you suggesting they should have tested it on me, John?"

"No, of course not Emori... but it's hard to fathom. The nightblood would have been helpful in space as well... it was almost like it was designed for space. It would have helped Echo immensely."

"What did you just say?" Raven demanded.

"It would have helped Echo."

"No, the part about nightblood being designed for space."

"Oh, that. Well, I've been looking into the components of nightblood based on what we brought up in Becca's computers, and it's pretty amazing stuff. It seems like it could help humans avoid the long term impacts of radiation without having to be genetically engineered pre-birth."

"That's IT! THAT'S IT MURPHY!" Raven shouted, triumphantly. "Long term space travel!"

Everybody stared at her... unsure of what to make of the latest discovery only Raven understood.

"When I was in the lab under ALIE's spell, I remember having a hallucination... but I remember now, more importantly, that Becca first experimented to use nightblood for _long term space travel_ and that she tested it on prisoners before she left. Murphy, let me see Becca's workpad we brought with us."

Raven furiously began clicking on the workpad, working away. Harper got up, and sauntered down the hall, ignoring the looks from the group.

"Murphy, this is it! This could be an option! There was a long term space flight, of miners, sent out during Becca's time, with a return mission time of five years to be activated to "awaken" by a special code from Becca's lab. If she sent them out, and they never recieved the code... they might still be out there. Even if the people didn't survive, the _ship_ would have. That means if we can use Becca's spaceship to send the code to the ship, it is possible, _possible_ , that the ship will come back to us with new coordinates."

"And with that ship... comes fuel." Monty said, in understanding and acknowledgement. "Let's get moving on this Raven. If what you are saying is true, than the soonest that ship could be back here would be in 2.5 years, which is longer than we intended to be here."

"Yes... but less long than we would have to be here otherwise."

Raven, Emori, and Murphy excitedly stood up.

"Wait." Echo said "Can you leave the recording of Clarke? I think... I think Bellamy will want to re-listen, privately."

Monty nodded in understanding, unclipping the recording device. "We have a few in the lab so we will just install a new one."

"Thanks Monty. Bellamy, let's head back to your room and you can listen to this there. I need another nap anyways and just started reading a new book... a series called the Hunger Games. Reminds me of home."

Echo and Murphy helped to pull Bellamy up, who was clearly overwhelmed by too many emotions to speak, and headed off in the other direction.

"Raven, did you set the transponder to our longest range frequencies?"

"Yes, Monty, obviously."

"Ok, well let's hit go then. I don't want to wait another minute for a way out of here."

With that, a few beeps and clicks, and Becca's ship monitor confirmed "Message Sent."

"Now, we wait." Emori announced, putting her feet up.

"Now, we go sit by the radio and see if we can send up a transmission to earth."

"I think we are overdue for some moonshine..." Emori complained light heartedly as she pulled herself out of the ship and into the Ring.

Suddenly, the Ring shook, and heaved and loud crunches could be heard down the hall.

"METEOR SHOWER!" Raven screamed, and the three took off running down the hall. Raven's leg slowed her down slightly, and as Monty turned around to pull her along with them, a loud crash came down in front of them. The lights went off, and the dark and cold spread throughout their section of the ship.


	10. Chapter 10

**So, we have Clarke finally making some contact with the Ark, and they've discovered the Elgius ship was sent into deep space and have attempted to "call it back" but we now have a meteor shower that has his the Ring. What happens next? Reviews welcome of course!**

The dark and cold remained, but Raven had woken up. She panicked - her memory instantly going to her leg, but was relived to feel it moving. She groaned. The fall and debris were not pleasant, and environmental controls were clearly off in this section. She hoped that the meteor shower had kept its hit to the starboard side that they were currently on and didn't impact any of the other sections. She felt slow movement beside her.

"Monty? Emori?"

A groan escaped from ahead of her. It sounded like Emori. Silence otherwise.

"Monty?" she asked the darkness. Still nothing.

Raven took the flashlight out of her pocket and pointed it to her left and right, and there Monty lay. His face was nearly turning purple and it was clear that whatever was on his chest was going to suffocate him. No wonder he hadn't responded.

In moving herself upright and pointing the flashlight, she could see ahead of her another person... Emori, crushed under the same equipment. But clearly still making some noise and breathing. Raven knew she had to act, if she could, and as she suspected the section had automatically sealed as programmed to do in a meteor shower, it would be too long to wait for the rescue team. The rescue team of Bellamy, who was barely himself, Echo, who could barely lift 10 pounds, Harper who had spiralled deep into depression, and Murphy. "That little asshole" Raven thought to herself and she shifted her weight and got up. She felt surprisingly strong. She knew she wasn't able to run very fast but all those exercises had changed her body and strengthened it. Monty didn't have much time. She had to save him.

Raven used all her strength to pull up the equipment. She felt it shudder and saw more pull down to where Emori lay... trapper her. Raven continued, and using her good leg, rolled Monty onto his side. Where he instantly coughed up a significant amount of blood.

"Shit. Monty, we need to get you out of here now."

Raven heaved his weight up onto hers and started dragging him to the locked doors. She laid him down and quickly started programming with the keypad. The door opened. She hauled Monty inside and heard shouts coming from the hallway.

"We are here!" she screamed, already feeling the exhaustion take over. Only then, in the light, did she look down at her good leg and see the blood pouring out of it with shrapnel stuck in it.

Bellamy and Murphy came running down the hallway and saw Raven dragging Monty, who was still blue and had stopped breathing.

"He stopped breathing!" Raven screamed at nobody in particular. "Monty! Monty!"

"Emori!" Murphy yelled into the darkness starting to climb over the debris.

"No." Bellamy said, grabbing his shirt. "Monty needs you now. I'll go get her. Use the cart and take him there now. I will bring Emori."

Murphy started to protest when Bellamy changed, pushing him up against a wall and holding him there with more strength than anybody would have expected.

"You do what I say, and you do it now."

Murphy's eyes widened and nodded slowly. He hauled Monty onto the cart and Raven slumped down on the floor, defeated. Bellamy took her flashlight and walking into the wrecked section.

It was dark, and the hazards ever present with hissing noises and creaks that made it sound like the entire section might fall off the Ring at any moment. It was hard to breath due to the lack of environmental controls and steady oxygen. Still, he half walked, half crawled forward. He had no idea how Raven had managed to pull Monty out of there. Sheer stubborness if he was to guess.

"Emori?" he called. A groan about 15 metres ahead.

Bellamy crawled up to Emori and tried to pull the equipment up. It wouldn't budge. He looked at the piping, about a foot wide and 20 feet long. The side that Monty and Raven had been on had been torn from its post, but where Emori was... her body was stuck underneath is entirely with two other pieces weighing down on it on either side. She was going to need to be sawed out.

"I'm going to need to get more help Emori. This is worse than I thought. I need to get a saw to get you out of here."

Emori was unconscious, but still breathing. Bellamy went as quickly as he could to the unimpacted part of the Ring and grabbed the intercom.

"Harper, Echo - I need you immediately and bring a metal saw. NOW." Bellamy ordered. Then he added: "If you don't get here in five minutes, I'm floating you and you'll have wasted three years in space for nothing."

Echo was there immediately with a metal saw, but Harper was not. Bellamy didn't have time to waste.

"Echo, this is not ideal. You aren't healthy but you can help. Let's get Emori out of here."

They crawled back to Emori. "Emori? Can you hear me?"

Nothing. The silence... it held them for a moment. Bellamy didn't have time to panic. He had to use his head.

"First things first, we need to get her sawed out. I'll saw this out more quickly but Echo you can pull it so that its at an angle to make it easier.

They worked as quickly as they could, but it felt like forever. Finally, they were able to lift the equipment and wedge Emori out.

"She isn't breathing." Echo observed.

"Let's get her to medbay." Bellamy stated, unsure as to what the next step would be.

They went as quickly as they could back to the Ring, where Bellamy typed in the code to the section and re-sealed it off. Echo pulled up Raven and supported her on her bad leg, as Bellamy rushed ahead carrying Emori.

When Bellamy walked in there with Emori, Murphy gaped at his partner, limp in his arms and pointed to the extra bed.

"I've stabilized Monty, barely. He is not breathing on his own but his colour has returned to normal with assisted breathing. Is she breathing?"

Bellamy shook his head, but Murphy already knew.

He started working on her right away, trying everything he had read about. He intubated for the second time, the first being Monty moments before, and gave her one of their precious doses of epinethrine, and shocked her heart.

Nothing.

He tried again. His eyes started to go crazy. He looked like a madman as he tried everything and nothing worked. Bellamy watched. Nothing worked. He started to scream obsenities and kicking at the equipment and begging Emori to wake up. Nothing.

At that moment, Raven and Echo limped into medbay. Murphy turned on them, staring at Raven and then Bellamy. He ran up to Bellamy and punched him hard across the face, and then tried to go for Raven.

"You fucking bitch! You chose Monty over Emori! You fucking horrible asshole bitch! You took the one thing I cared about. I FUCKING HATE YOU." He screamed at the top of his lungs while Bellamy attempted to hold him back. Raven looked at Monty and then at Emori, her eyes glistening, her face still in a state of shock, when all of a sudden, she fainted and Echo not being as strong as she once was, let her fall to the floor.

 **I don't want Emori to die. But six years on the Ring with no accidents or deaths? Emori isn't joining the main cast next season but Echo is? Emori who is the eternal survivor, who was learning and mastering technology, suddenly gone because of a choice Raven made? How will this change them all? Thoughts and opinions welcome.**


	11. Chapter 11

**So Raven passed out after the meteor shower that claimed Emori's life. Will Murphy try to save her? What will happen to Harper since she didn't come to help the team when needed and required by Bellamy?**

The beeping in the room somehow made it all the more eerily silent. Echo stood, clearly exerted and suffering radiation sickness, as Raven bled to her side. Bellamy held Murphy but with Raven's collapse, it was no longer necessary. He pushed Murphy back, pulled Raven up, and put her on the third makeshift bed for medbay.

"We need to deal with her leg Murphy. Now."

"She killed Emori."

"No, she didn't Murphy. You and I both know that a meteor shower his the Ring. We know that Raven pulled Monty out first. But what you don't know is that Emori was trapped the whole time under debris that Raven could not have lifted. It wouldn't have been possible to save Emori first. If you don't save her right now, I won't need to float you because we will all die up here together without Raven to get us home."

Murphy was in such shock. It couldn't be possible...Emori was just there, just that morning, and now she is past tense. He remembered when Lexa died and Clarke's reaction. He understood as he had never understood before.

"Fine." Murphy snapped and turned his attention to her. "She has lost a lot of blood. Unfortunately we will need a donor, and unfortunately that needs to be me. Raven is an AB and I am an O. Echo, clean her arms up for a blood donation and cut her pant leg off so I can operate on it."

Echo nodded, moving as quickly as she could.

Murphy angrily pulled the necessary tubing and began the blood transfusion. Fortunately with ALIE and Clarke he had gotten used to seeing this happen. He had a donation read and feeding into Ravens left arm as he surveyed her right leg.

"It's bad. The blood loss is because of the artery which has been damaged. It's salvagable, if I do it right."

Bellamy looked at Raven, unconscious, and at Murphy.

"If you don't get it right, we may as well just all float ourselves together. Without Raven, we have nothing. So you better get it right."

"Shut the fuck up Bellamy, I get it."

Muprhy began his work, cautiously and reviewing the etext as needed. After an agonizing amount of time, he removed the debris and sealed up the wound."

"She should make it, as long as it doesn't get infected. Can I go sit with my dead girlfriend now?"

"Yes." Bellamy nodded.

Murphy walked by Bellamy, looked him in the eye, and spat in his face, before walking over to where Emori lay, still and cool, and sat down with her.

Bellamy wiped off the spit, and took a seat with Echo. It was going to be a long few years, assuming Raven pulled through this and Becca's ship proved fruitful.


	12. Chapter 12

**Emori tragically died as a result of her injuries. Now what?**

It was a long few months after Emori's death. Coming from the ground where there had been no time to grieve, everybody took it hard.

First, there was Murphy. He was angrier than he had ever been. It was the old Murphy. The Murphy who hate everybody, and everything, and believed he was incapable of redemption. Losing Emori affected him deeply. It was as bad as when his father had died, who he had always been on good terms with and truly loved him. His mother of course, had only spite left for him when she passed, and although he ached, it was nothing compared to the grief he felt now. After everything they had been through... it seemed impossible that Emori could die from a stupid meteor shower. Was it his punishment for everything he had done on the ground?

Murphy couldn't look at Raven or Bellamy for those first few months. He didn't try to avoid them either. Snide comments, spitting on the floor, objects hurled in their direction. Raven and Monty locked themselves in the lab and control room frequently, working on various projects... the most important one being the ship tracker for Becca's ship of prisoners. The connection had been made to the ship, but they wanted concrete proof it was on their way back so that it could save them all.

Then there was the problem of Harper.

After failing to show up when required, Bellamy knew he had to punish her. The Ring was an unforgiving place, as they had all discovered, and they had to be a coherent team. He knew he could never follow through on his threat of floating her, but he did what he could to try and get the message across.

First, he tried taking away her rations of algae to only one per day, locked in her room. She didn't seem to care much at all about this though, and she lost weight so rapidly that Raven commented that he may as well float her.

Then, Bellamy tried taking away her water rations. That also did not go well, as all that happened was that she decided to stop bathing altogether. About three weeks into that punishment, his eyes put up enough resistant to change that... but still, she refused to shower even when the water rations were back.

Over the months, her hair became more and more matted. She smelled terrible. She also stopped speaking to them other than in halted sentences. Bellamy felt he was almost out of options and was at a loss. They hadn't heard from Clarke again either, which bothered him more than it should. He was just so grateful she was alive... they all just had to make it a few more years.

He was working with Echo on more complex literature now - Charles Dickens, which took a lot of explaining in terms of what things meant, were, etc. She still preferred the Hunger Games series as she could relate more readily, but he insisted she move on to more complex material. Bellamy wasn't concentrating on his own ebook. He sighed loudly.

Echo looked up at him.

"What?"

"It's Harper. I don't know what to do."

"Yes, she is troubled."

"I can't seem to push her out of it."

"Well, maybe thats not something you can do."

"I'm supposed to be the leader up here Echo..."

"I know. But remember how Wanheda became a legend? She killed the mountain men, and then left your people to live in the woods. She became a fighter, aggressive. Maybe Harper needs more space."

"Maybe... but we can't exactly give that to her."

"Or, maybe, everybody up here needs a place to put their anger. A way to get it out. Murphy isn't helping things either and we are getting weaker every day."

Bellamy nodded, slowly. "A place to train. A place we can fight."

Echo put her ebook down altogether. "I cannot fight anymore, I know... but I can help teach. I have taught many hand to hand combat and with some of the materials here, we could train on sword combat as well."

"Can we do that safely?"

"What is safe? When we return to the ground, nothing will be safe once again."

Bellamy looked at her, seeing her, for the first time. She had grown up in such a different world, and yet they were so alike. She was loyal to Roan, and he to Octavia. He lived in constant fear of his mother or sister being discovered, and she lived in a world where death and violence was commonplace. She was right. They had grown soft on the Ring.

"Let's put it in classroom next to medbay. First battle is with me for whoever wants to volunteer."

Echo nodded, approvingly.

Bellamy added: "That will likely get Murphy's attention. Now all I need to do is get Monty to agree to be a punching bag physically for Harper, instead of just emotionally."

The next few weeks he cleaned out the room, and announced the first battle over the intercom to the first volunteer. To nobody's surprise, Murphy was the first to show up.

Even Harper had dragged herself out of her room for this, but sat silently, emotionless, on the floor eyeing everybody up silently.

Bellamy nodded to the group. "The rules are, there are no rules other than no weapons. This is hand to hand combat only. It's just like on the ground in that you don't have to hold anything back, but we also can't be dealing with significant injuries so as mentioned, no knives, heavy objects, etc. Other than that, its fair game."

Murphy took up, and cracked his knuckles loudly. "What happened to 'there are no rules' on the ground?"

Bellamy looked at him, pointedly. "There are always some rules, Murphy. Even you know that now."

Murphy took a defensive stance, and glared at Bellamy. "Let's go then."

The fight got ugly.

At one point, Murphy managed to bite off part of Bellamy's ear. Blood was everywhere. Both of them were pummelled nearly senseless, until Murphy, in one final moment of strength, got a hold of Bellamy in a headlock and pulled him into a metal pole.

Bellamy collapsed on the ground. Murphy spat on his face and lifted his boot up.

"STOP. ITS OVER." Raven shouted at him and ran forward, pushing him away from Bellamy.

"You're next, bitch." Murphy said to her, and spat on her face.

Suddenly, Raven lunged at him. With Bellamy out, nobody had a chance to stop her.

"YOU ARE A FUCKING PRICK."

She started punching him, hard, getting him in the lower ribs and then pushing him and pulling him forcefully to the ground. She was untrained, but strong, and was not exhausted like Murphy was. She took full advantage and stood on his back, wrenching his shoulder up into a painful position, before kicking him in the back several times.

Murphy gave up. He lay on the floor, lingering between conscious and unconscious.

"You fucking asshole Murphy. Yes, I saved Monty. I saved my friend. I had to make a choice. Just like we all had to make a choice. Just like Monty made a choice to save me and kill his own mother to do so. Just like your Dad made a choice to save you, and get himself killed. Just like Clarke made a choice to save us all by staying behind to align a radio tower.

What choices do you make? You murder people in their sleep because you didn't like that they were making too much noise. You almost killed me. You made Charlotte kill herself. The only difference between you and your Dad, Monty, Clarke, and I, is that I didn't do it because I am a prick. I wish you had died instead of Emori."

Raven looked at Monty with guilt in her eyes. "Raven, I... "

"Sorry Monty. I know I never bring up what you did for me that day. It's too hard. The guilt... it eats at me. I'm just... I am glad I could repay the favor."

With that, Raven walked out of the room leaving Monty, Echo, and Harper in an uncomfortable near silence with the beaten bodies of Bellamy and Murphy breathing ragged breaths on the ground in front of them. Harper stared in shock at the scene. She felt something stir within her. She felt the smallest glimmer of hope. She wasn't sure why. She just... knew. She knew that honesty, no matter how horrible it was... was going to make it a little bit better.

With that, she stood up slowly, and went to the shower in her room, where she proceeded to shave off all of her hair, and bathe for the first time in months.


	13. Chapter 13

**So, they finally started a fight club on the Ring. Will this really improve things?**

It wasn't long until Echo started training Harper and Raven.

Harper's attitude had changed. Although she was still severe and angry, she at least had emotions. Emotions can be harnessed and used. Raven, likewise, had been motivated after pummeling Murphy. She hated to admit it, but he had made her stronger with the physical therapy exercises. She had continued them on her own after Emori's death.

Then, Monty asked for training. He was agile enough but had to work on his strength. He cut his hair shorter so there would be "less to grab".

Bellamy and Murphy also trained, although often alone with the various equipment that made up the "gym". Murphy was finding it very therapeutic, in a way. He was so used to being exhausted from trying to survive on the ground, and then Emori's death had taken so much out of him emotionally that he was happy to be tired again to stop thinking about her at every waking moment.

Eventually, the sparring happened again. Raven and Monty went first, because they didn't want to kill each other but get some good practice. Bellamy and Monty the second time. Harper and Raven the third. They felt the tension beginning to release and even started joking around again with each other as time went on. But every once in a while, when they were really angry at somebody, they would challenge them to a spar. That always was a "show" as Bellamy put it. Really, it was an ugly scene. But, as Bellamy decided, it was nothing worse than they had to, and would have to, deal with on the ground.

Raven and Monty had managed in the meantime to identify the tracking signal for Becca's mining ship. They had been up here for four years now, and the ship was two years away.

"We will be going down late" Raven announced. "But at least we are going down."

"Do you think the miners will be awake on the ship?"

"Unlikely. If Becca had the power to wake them, she would have done so and recalled them as they all had nightblood. I suspect it was a low priority for her when she, you know, killed 7 billion people."

"What about Clarke? Anything on the radio?"

"Bellamy, you've asked a million times. I've tried, but that satellite is really only in position for a few days every year from what i can tell. But you are only a few weeks away."

"Can we message her though? What if she doesn't call?"

"Bellamy... I know. I know this is hard. But she is alive! This is Clarke! We finally have hope that we are going to get back down to Earth, get out of this tin can for good, and Clarke survived praimfaya on top of all that. We are really lucky. We cannot transmit to her, only receive, you know this."

"I know, its just... I left her there, and its a long time..."

"Yeah, it's a fucking long time." Murphy walked in, announcing himself.

"I was in the bunker for only a few months alone, and I almost killed myself. I don't know how Clarke is managing being so alone. I am genuinely surprised she didn't end it all willingly during praimfaya when we, you know, left her behind."

Bellamy glared at Murphy.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Don't you have better things to do that trying to bait Bellamy into another fight?"

"Yeah, I do. I finally decided I should stop hating you, so I am here to bring you back in for physio."

"I don't need it Murphy."

"Really, because the last time I saw Harper kick your ass by taking out your bad leg, it looked like you needed it."

"She didn't kick my ass"

"Is that why I had to drag you, unconscious, into med bay and why you couldn't chew the algae for three days?"

"Shut up."

"Look, I don't like it anymore than you do. But whereas you CAN"T bring Emori back, I can actually help you recover from the leg injury. So let's go."

Bellamy looked at Raven who was still seething at the references to her losing to Harper. "Raven, it's not going to hurt, and who knows, maybe you'll even beat me one day."

Raven stood up quickly, and smacked Bellamy on the back of his head, hard.

"Count on it."

With that, she nodded at Murphy and they headed to medbay.

"You really don't need to be helping me with this Murphy."

"Look, Raven, I was angry with you for a long time. But... after you nearly killed me, in an unfair fight may I remind you... you reminded me of a few things. I was... not being fair to you. I remember when you attacked me in the lab and I was upset... and Luna said that she thought I hated me for what I had done to you, more than you hated me."

Raven was begrudginly working with an elastic band on her bad leg at this point. "And?"

"Luna was right. I was mad at myself for losing Emori. I blamed my lack of medical expertise, the fact I brought her to this damn ship in the first place... but really, I wanted to be mad at everybody else too. Which doesn't change the fact that she is gone. You had a choice to make. I can't blame you for it just because it isn't the choice I would have made."

Raven looked at him, stopping with the band.

"I understood, you know. Why you hated me so much. I really did. It's how I felt with Clarke, after she killed Finn."

"Pure rage?"

"Yeah, something like that. But... when I realized what type of torture she avoided for him... well, eventually I came to terms with it. It still sucks sometimes though. It will probably suck for a long time, Murphy."

He nodded, letting a breath out that he hadn't realized he kept in.

"Life sucks, then you die, right?"

Raven smiled at him, knowingly. "Especially for the cockroach and the raven."

With that, the smallest of smiles passed over Murphy's face.


	14. Chapter 14

**Ok, so people seem to be somewhat managing their emotions... right?**

Everybody was now back to a somewhat ok state, mentally. They had a plan to go back to Earth, that was somewhat plausible. The ship was less than a year away now. They had a way to take out their anger, and build up their physical strength. Echo, of course, was still suffering from long term radiation sickness, but she had been coping with it. It frustrated her and was also gratifying to see the improvements in everybody since she worked on their training. She missed the physical side of things. Her body couldn't do much anymore. Murphy had acknowledged that the sooner they got back to earth, the better... assuming the radiation levels were sufficiently down.

"All the literature we have is indicating that Echo is doing relatively well from the radiation sickness. But, still suffering and it could easily deteriorate over time. It's too bad we don't have access to Becca's lab and medical facilities. I suspect the answer could be easily found there."

"When we get back to Earth."

"I know, I know, but I just... really hate this tin can. This place is nothing but bad luck for me and people I care about."

The group solemnly knew what he was referring to.

"Only a year left Murphy. If you avoid caring for any of us, you should be fine."

"Ha ha, thanks Raven."

"Anytime."

The entire group was basically glued around the radio, ever since Raven had indicated they would soon be in range for any potential Clarke message. Bellamy was holding it tightly with his fingers.

"You know Bellamy, if you hold it tight she will feel your hug right through the non existent transmitted." Murphy joked.

Bellamy made a mental note to challenge him to a spar in the near future, when the the crackling and static changes began.

"Bellamy? It's been over five years since Praimfaya... and you still aren't back. But I haven't lost hope. Madi and I went to the bunker again today, we've been there for a few weeks now... as you know, it's been silence. I don't know what to do. I think we need a way to dig them out. It's like the entire city of Polis collapsed on the entrance, at least where I think the entrance is. I was hoping they would figure a way out but... nothing so far. No radio communications either.

Madi was disappointed... because she was hoping to meet you guys, since she has heard all the stories. But I know there must be a good reason for you not to come down yet. I just... I am so grateful, I love Madi so much but... I miss you. I miss all of you.

My hair has finally grown back. I wasn't sure it ever would properly, because of all the blisters on my scalp. I guess I never told you that. I didn't want to worry you.

Madi and I are going to head back home now. I feel too defeated looking at Polis like this. I hope Raven and Monty can help figure out how to dig everybody out. I miss them. I miss you all so much. I think about you all every day. I've been working on some drawings... Madi wanted to see what you all looked like and the one thing Praimfaya did leave behind was lots of charcoal... so she knows you well now. I wonder how you've all changed over all these years. I know a lot has probably happened in five years. I hope it has... because if it has, it means you are alive and well up there.

Come down as soon as you can though, ok? Bye Bellamy."

The transmission had come through so clearly. So full of emotion. So full of love.

"I'm confused, was that Clarke talking or some weird lovey dovey ghost of her former self?" Murphy broke the silence. Raven punched him hard in the arm.

"Maybe this is just what she is actually like... when somebody isn't trying to actively hunt her down." Echo suggested.

"It's like I hardly recognize her." Monty said, wistfully. "She never seemed very sentimental to me."

"That's her." Bellamy stated. "That's who she has always been. She was just too busy to be herself around everybody."

With that, he stood up, taking the radio and the recording device, and left.

Monty nodded in his direction, turning back to the group.

"Yeah, he is going to spend some time in his bedroom I expect. He kept the old one there and plays is every day I think."

"Really? There have _got_ to be easier ways to get yourself off."

"Oh Murphy, that is disgusting." Raven stated, laughing. Even Harper had a small laugh.

"Seriously, he should just try the peephole I have drilled in the hole in your bathroom."

Raven turned to him in shock, and he started laughing harder.

"Ok, honestly, if you even thought for a minute, you've got to give your head a shake. You aren't that hot that I could get off to you like that."

At that, Echo, Monty and Harper all started laughing harder. Harper started laughing so hard she was shaking. Raven glared at all of them which just made everybody laugh harder.

Raven stormed out of the room.

Later, Murphy found Raven at the window staring down at Earth.

He sat down next to her. She didn't acknowledge him.

"Ok, Raven, it was a joke, ok? Everybody knows you are hot."

She continued to stare at the Earth.

"You can't actually be mad at me about this."

She sighed, heavily. "No, I'm not mad. I know I'm hot."

Murphy started laughing again. "That's the Raven I know."

The anticipation of the mining ship arriving had everybody on edge and excited. Suddenly, all they could talk about was the food they were going to eat when they got back to earth, the first thing they would do, what they missed the most. The conversation was monopolized with anything and everything not on the Ring.

"OTHER PEOPLE." Murphy announced. "I am extremely excited to have other people to talk to and see on a regular basis."

Everybody nodded in agreement, talking about seeing Miller again and the other delinquents that had been spared.

"I probably won't talk to any of you for months when we land. I'm not going to want to see your faces at all." Raven guessed.

Suddenly, an alert went off.

"What the?"

Raven stood up quickly. "The ship! It's in range! It's in orbit! This is months earlier than the pre-program indicated!"

Monty nodded. "According to Becca's calculations if the ship is on auto pilot it should taken at least a few more months to arrive..."

Everybody stopped, cautiously, wondering what that could mean. Bellamy started slowly "... and if they were off auto-pilot?"

"They might arrive... a bit sooner."

"WHY was this never mentioned?"

"We didn't see it as a possibility! People frozen in space for over 100 years? That hardly seems possible."

"We don't have time to think about it now. Everybody get ready for combat if needed. Gather the weapons we do have."

"Bellamy, they might be more open to negotiation than you think..." Monty began.

"When was the last time we had that kind of luck?"

"Good point." Murphy said, getting up and heading for the weapons locker.

"How much time do we have Raven?"

"I made it so that we would get the alert with a few hours to spare."

"Let's not waste them then. Everybody on full alert. We lock this place down and what we can of it. We guard the docking bay. Don't aim to kill - best case scenario we end up taking one of them to use as leverage as well as for information."

With that, the group stood up, nervous excitement in the air for the first time in years.


	15. Chapter 15

**Ahhhh the ship is here!**

The battle was short, and not very successful.

The prisoners forced their way onto the Ark, and immediately overtook them. They were captured quickly as the prisoners threw in a gas to incapacitate them.

Raven woke up, confused and then angry. How could she have let this happen. She heard the moans and groans of the others as they woke up on their own dark cold floors.

"Shit." Murphy said, loudly.

Suddenly, a door opened and some light filtered in. "Which one of youse is the leader?" a large, stern man asked.

Silence. Was Bellamy even awake?

"I need answers from one of you. Now. The rest of you will be collared later but one of you is coming with me, and if you don't cooperate, you will see some less than pleasant results."

Still, they were all quiet. Silence from Bellamy. He must still be unconscious.

"Fine, I'll just take this one. She's quite pretty, she will do just fine."

"It's me." Murphy said.

"Who?"

"I'm the leader of the group. John Murphy. I'll answer your questions, if I want to."

"Smart ass we have here. Well, we have a few methods to make sure you do cooperate. I'll spare your girlfriend for now... but... no promises for later."

Murphy almost threw up in his mouth. This man was revolting. He had to do something so that those threats wouldn't be carried out.

"Let's go then, asshole." That earned Murphy a punch in the face, but he was happy to give the man a distraction.

Raven stared at him in disbelief as he was hauled out of the room. He glanced back, and gave her a look and a small smile out of his bleeding mouth, before the man pulled him out of the doorframe and closed it shut again, leaving them in the darkness once more.

Murphy was gone for hours. Bellamy had been heard, but not quite awoken from his unconscious. The whole group could hear his nightmares... something they had mostly been spared on the Ark thanks to the steel walls. Screams, wailing, sobs, interjected by different names long forgotten but still haunting Bellamy... Charlotte, Wells, Atom, and of course, Clarke and Octavia. The hours dragged on.

"Can somebody shut him up?" Harper demanded.

"Can anybody even see where his cage is?" Monty asked, concerned. It was pitchblack. No matter what, it did not seem that their eyes would adjust.

Suddenly, the lights came on. Everybody squinted in the harsh light. The same man came in with bright red fresh blood on his hands... blood that clearly did not belong to him but to Murphy, because this man now had a small cut above his eye, from his small drops of nightblood had come out.

Raven gasped, and Monty's gagged. "He isn't dead. Yet. He will be though if you don't all start cooperating immediately. He told us some interesting information. It sounds like we can use you all after all."

"What are you talking about?" Monty asked, playing a fine line between panic and interest in his swift, soft voice.

"That you are all here because the land isn't survivable for another ten years. That you need this "nightblood" to survive down there now but everybody with nightblood was killed off in something called a "conclave". That you all lived there before and know the best landing sites, how to hunt, water to drink... but that once we land, you'll all die within days or weeks. Yes, he was very forthcoming with this information after he lost his first fingernail. For some reason, that got him talking the most..."

The group looked stunned. Murphy had lied... he had told a story that might get them down to earth. He made them think, by torturing him, he would tell the truth, but instead, the all just believed his lies.

Monty knew this was the right time to play right into it. "You can't take us down there with you! We will all die in days! We need to wait another nine years and few months at least!"

The man chuckled under his breath.

"Too bad. We got what we needed out of your friend about what happened while we were in cryogenic sleep, and how you had woken us using Becca's equipment in the hopes that there would be additional supplies for you all to survive the next ten years. For that reason, we are deciding to be gracious. You will be our guests, provided you cooperate, until you get to earth, at which time after identifying the key requirements for our survival, we will let you go. Of course, you'll all die without this "nightblood" you speak of... but, that's not our problem. You've all been most helpful. You'll be staying in this room in these cages, but you will be fed and given water as long as you assist us with information when required."

Raven played into Murphy's lie as well. "And for forcing us to die on earth instead of live in space until the ground is survivable, we are supposed to be thankful?"

"You are supposed to be thankful that we are leaving you alone and giving you the same grace that our forefathers gave us over a hundred years ago."

"Which is what, exactly?"

"Not an instant death."

With that, he moved behind him and rolled in Murphy on a crate, before opening his cage and dumping him in. A groan escaped his bloodied lips.

"I've returned your boyfriend alive. He said that would be necessary for you all to cooperate. Now, I'll need you and whoever "Echo" and "Monty" are to come with me to the mapping room where we have a team waiting for you to discuss ideal landing sites. For your assistance, we will give you a protein pack. Murphy indicated that was one of the main reasons you wanted Becca's ship for supplies... and thats one thing we are more than willing to share. Let's go."

Raven stood up, and Echo and Monty did as well. He unlocked their cages and they were immediately cuffed together and forced to follow. Raven took a quick look back at Murphy... who was left groaning on the ground of his cell. They would all thank him later. There would be a later, she knew, because that cockroach could never die. For the first time, she was truly grateful to have that kind of confidence in a person.


	16. Chapter 16

**So Murphy came up with a pretty great lie and they might go back to earth - what next?**

Raven and Monty came back to their "quarters", escorted, as usual, after a long day working with the Elguis crew. Raven sat down in a huff. Thankfully, they were no longer caged - it had been several weeks and as a result of "good behavior" as well as numerous complaints from Raven to one of the superior officers who seemed to like her, they were allowed to roam about their quarters but never allowed outside them unsupervised. It did however allow them to touch and feel each other which after the first few weeks had felt like absolute deprivation considering their close proximity on the Ring.

Monty sighed as he sat down next to her. "It's taking forever. They keep wanting to know more, more, more about the technology and availability of food and other services on Earth. It's like they cannot understand that there is nothing left."

Bellamy spoke up in Trigdasleg - "But you didn't tell them about the bunker, did you?"

"Of course not." Raven turned harshly in the same language. Concerns about their prison being bugged had caused them to speak in English only when they were not discussing something of concern. The "Earth Skills 2" had more value that they could have realized.

"They seem unsure if they want to go down at all." Monty continued in the same vein. "They seem to still be having a hard time processing the news that all of their cities were destroyed. We have gone through significant satellite imagery and its clear that even Polis has now been flattened. They keep hoping to find some semblance of life as it was 100 years ago."

Murphy laughed. "They want to find the City of Light. Idiots. Can't they just get over it and realize life is a bitch and then you die?"

Bellamy looked at him sternly. "We need to get them to think they want to get home. Is there anything we can tell them that might make that happen sooner?"

Raven shrugged. "No, I don't think so. They want to know what they are getting into. They were only awoken a few years ago, and only discovered the truth about their world a few weeks ago. When I was talking to Nick -"

"Zeke. His name is Zeke."

"His _name_ is Nick, and if you want to stay in your cage forever Murphy go for it but you would think you would be a bit more app-"

"Appreciative! Here I was getting literally _tortured_ and thankfully having been tortured before I could keep my head on straight, to save all of you, and here you are frater-"

"I was _not_ fraternizing with him!"

Bellamy stood up between the two shooting daggers at each other. "Look, Raven, we appreciate your efforts to get us better treatment and your... friendship with Zeke has been good for us, no question. Murphy, we get it, we appreciate it, and let's just focus on next steps."

"What did Zeke say to you Raven?"

"He indicated that it was taking longer than they thought to come to terms with the fact they wouldn't be going home even in their lifetime and that they would need to find a piece of arable land instead. They thought they were coming home to loving families after a ten year trip. They were married, had kids, people they loved..."

Murphy rolled his eyes at the last one.

Raven ignored him.

"Anyways, he indicated he thought it would be another few months. That puts us back on earth about six years after Praimfaya."

"Murphy, how to do we make ourselves look sick? Make them think we are dying so that they let us go off into the sunset?"

Murphy contemplated it silently. "I'll have to think about it. We could probably spend some time depriving our bodies of oxygen. That would give us the bloodshot eyes and lethargy. That could do it. The good news is we are used to being deprived of oxygen, well, most of us as we were on the poor stations in the Ark, and I suspect we could use that to our advantage as well. Echo is still sick from radiation poisoning so we can't do that to her."

Bellamy nodded. "Alright, another few months. Now if the two of you could stop fighting like cats and dogs over here it would help us all out to focus on the next steps and our plans."

Harper, who had been quietly observing laughed. "Yeah, you two remind me of Clarke and Bellamy when we first landed. Except, you know, Bellamy was hot."

With that remark a collective groan rose from the group. Murphy pretended to look hurt and offended.

"He was! I mean, not anymore, now he reminds me more of Kane but six or seven years ago he was a real catch..."

Bellamy threw an empty food tray at her, which made her laugh. The first laugh anybody had heard from Harper in what felt like years.

Everybody stared at her in surprise. She quietly, not noticing the group reaction, went back to her work of making a shank out of some of one of the bars from their cages, silent once again.


End file.
